1. Field of the Invention
invention relates to an oil-fueled pocket lighter for lighting cigarettes and the like.
2. Description of the Invention
An oil lighter works by igniting oil drawn up by a wick partly immersed in oil. Thus, even when the lighter is not in use the oil continuously evaporates as it is drawn up by the wick, which can waste a considerable amount of oil.
To prevent this, U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,608 discloses an oil lighter arrangement in which the lighter is provided with a lower primary chamber with an oil filler aperture, an upper secondary chamber containing the oil-impregnated part of a wick, a valve for closing and opening communication between the primary and secondary chambers, and a device for operating the valve.* The valve between the chambers is normally kept closed to prevent the oil in the primary chamber from evaporating, and when the oil in the secondary chamber evaporates and the wick does not readily ignite, the lighter is turned upside down and the valve device is operated to open the valve to produce a flow of oil out of the primary chamber and into the secondary chamber.
In the above-described lighter the valve is provided horizontally between the two chambers, and to allow the oil in the secondary chamber to be replenished from the primary chamber, the valve is opened by pushing in one end of the valve piece that protrudes from the body of the lighter. However, it is difficult to push in the protruding end of the valve piece, and it is an operation that requires a fair amount of force to be exerted on the valve piece. The reason for this is that the valve is equipped with an O-ring that provides a tight seal to prevent oil leaking out onto the lighter via the valve, and so enough force has to be exerted on the protruding valve piece to enable it to be pushed in against the resistance of this tightly-fitting O-ring.
The primary chamber is normally sealed shut by a screw-plug in the filler aperture. This means that even when the lighter is turned upside down and the valve is opened, the oil does not flow smoothly into the secondary chamber from the sealed primary chamber. Because of this lack of a smooth flow, the valve piece has to be kept pressed in for an extended time to accomplish the required replenishment.
The object of the present invention is to provide an oil lighter in which the time required for the replenishment operation is reduced by effecting a smooth flow of oil from the primary chamber to the secondary chamber.